Spatial Pattern of Large-Scale Agricultural Land and Spatial Heterogeneity of Influencing Factors in the Mountainous Areas of Western China—Wuling Mountains as an Example

Abstract

The scaling of agricultural land is a trend in land use transformation and is important for modernizing agriculture. Therefore, the reasons for large-scale agricultural land formation should be explored. The spatial distribution of large-scale agricultural land and the factors for its formation vary between different regions. Currently, the exploration of the formation mechanism of large-scale agricultural land from the perspective of heterogeneity is not yet sufficient. Therefore, the main objectives of this article are as follows: first, analyze the spatial pattern characteristics of large-scale agricultural land; second, explore the spatial heterogeneity characteristics of influencing factors from both global and local perspectives; third, explore the mechanism of the formation of large-scale agricultural land from the perspective of heterogeneity. The results indicate the following: (1) The large-scale agricultural land distribution pattern in the Wuling Mountains area was high in the east and low in the west. (2) Natural conditions, production factors, and location conditions all significantly impacted large-scale agricultural land, but with differences in their degree of influence. From a local perspective, the influences of various factors in different regions also exhibited spatial heterogeneity. These two types of heterogeneity can be attributed to the differences in regional development stages. (3) Natural conditions, location conditions, and production factors had negative, positive, and positive effects on the agricultural land scale, respectively, but the influence of the first two decreased with the improvement in the regional development stages. The influence of different factors on production factors was related to the regional development stage, and production factors that were suitable for the regional development stage had a greater impact. The conclusion can provide differentiated policy support for regional land use in practice.